di Hermann Groß

The constitutional tradition in Germany and the regulations after World War II are the main factors for organizing police in Germany. (West) Germany was politically rebuild in a bottom up process from a local government level to the federal states (Länder) and finally the federation in 1949.

The state Hessia for example was founded in December 1946 almost three years before the federal republic. In the years after 1945 there were allowed only local police forces to break up the Nazi police system.

In the process of denazification, demilitarization and democratization the police should be concentrated to their core of law enforcement, criminal prosecution and averting of danger.

In the federal constitution (Grundgesetz) you will find only little about police and police organization. The federal level of policing is restricted to a Federal Criminal Police Office (Bundeskriminalamt) dealing with collecting data, being a central office in communicating with other countries and restricted to terrorism and organized crime.